Many of you know that the hangman's noose is a very raqcist symbol to the black community. Well, if you guys didn't check out Jenni Carlson's article in Today's Oklahoman, I guess you missed this. I'll include the article. Anyways, on the 16th hole at Oak Tree is a hangman's noose. Although I know the purpose of this wasn't to be racist, I think it is still a very racist symbol and should be removed from the Oak Tree Course. It just shows how Okies are still completely backward in the view they have towards minorities. I hate to say this, but the symbol, I'm afraid, represents much of rural Oklahoma. We have a lot of racist biggots in this state!

If we're going to have the PGA Tour here in 2006, we need to get rid of this symbol, a symbol that gives us a very backward and racist appearance.

Again, I know that wasn't the point of the hangman's noose, but it's still the point.

But then again, you have to remember, it is wealthy white Edmond.......and at one time before Civil Right's days, in their chamber of commerce brochure, they bragged about how people should to to Edmond because "there were no negros."

Something else that's interesting is the poll that they have posted on Newsok. This just proves to me how backward many people are in this state.

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Here's the poll:

Should Oak Tree Golf Club take away the hangman's noose on the 16th green?
Yes: 31.18% (373)

No: 68.81% (823)


Total: 1196

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Here's a post by a poster from another message board commenting on the article. This just shows that backward mindset that a lot of Okies have. In this article, the author seems to have the viewpoint that racism doesn't exist. Wonder what he would think about the Black man that was dragged to death behind a pick up in Texas a few years back. Anyways, since I'm presenting work that's not my own, I have to include the author's information.......The opinions in the post presented below are expressed by Kerry Decker, a former Oklahoman (still considers himself very much Oklahoman), now from Tampa, FL.

"This is the kind of crap that drives me nuts. We will always have racism in the this country becasue the people that want to be offended will ALWAYS find something new to be offended about. If Oak Tree does away with the noose then the "victims" out there will complain about the oak tree icon itself. After all, most blacks were hanged from oak trees. This MUST mean that oak trees are offensive.

Heck, why don't we ban Pontiac from providing loaner cars to the PGA or any other sporting event. After all, Pontiac is the poor blacks Cadillac. When are people going to grow up and stop being offended by EVERYTHING. The best way to defeat racism is to simply not be offended. Why do you think the term Honkey never caught on. Whites simply weren't offended by it. Heck, some rednecks even took the term to be an endearment - hence Honky Tonk.

GET OVER IT ALREADY!!!"

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Here's the main article from the Oklahoman:

"Oak Tree noose is not the right image

By Jenni Carlson
The Oklahoman

EDMOND - Oak Tree Golf Club spent millions renovating the course, replacing all of the greens and building a dozen new tee boxes. Because of it, the course landed the 2006 Senior PGA Championship.

Before the major tournament rolls into Oklahoma, though, there's another bit of renovation that needs to be done. And this one won't cost a million bucks or take months to finish. All it would take is a ladder and about five minutes.

It's time to take down the hangman's noose by the 16th green.

Hanging from a balded tree since the course opened, the noose has become the course's unofficial icon. Oak Tree's Web site says it is there "presumably for anyone who by this time is ready to commit suicide."

But the hangman's noose is iconic for another reason in this country. Used for the lynching and killing of many blacks, the noose has come to represent segregation and racism, intimidation and intolerance. It symbolizes an ugly chapter in our nation's history.

It has no place on a golf course, especially when that course will host a national championship and bring attention to our fair state. That noose reflects poorly on all of us.

What will folks in other parts of the country think when they see the noose during the tournament broadcast?

That image will be shown again and again. The 16th will be a crucial hole down the stretch and will get lots of airtime. Sure, the broadcasters might explain the noose once during the broadcast, but they're not going to do so every time it appears on the screen. People tuning in after the explanation will be left to wonder.

Maybe they'll think Oklahoma an intolerant place, a hateful state, a backward land. Those are undeserved stereotypes but ones we fight anyway.

Oklahoma deserves better.

So does Oak Tree. Unlike many other exclusive golf courses, Oak Tree has opened its doors to golfers of any skin color and any gender. The club quietly changed its membership policy in 1994, when the Golf Club Preservation Group purchased it, and it is no longer a men's-only club.

The preservation group also began the restoration project that culminated with this week's announcement. Led by owner Don Mathis, the group set out to repair the neglect that occurred after the course's original owners filed for bankruptcy.

"It deteriorated," Oak Tree touring pro Doug Tewell said. "Things got tired-looking. The facilities, the maintenance was not kept up, and the golf course just started to not look like the first-class club it had been."

That isn't the case anymore.

"The golf course is in as good a shape, if not better, than it's ever been," PGA of America chief executive officer Jim Awtrey said.

This is a new day for Oak Tree, as good a time as any to take down that old noose.

The course contends that the contraption is not only part of its history but also part of the state's land-run heritage. When lawlessness was punished, justice was swift and death was ruled. The offender would swing from the gallows.

"It's a historical sort of satire on golf," Tewell said. "Like, 'Boy, when you get done with the 16th, you're ready to hang yourself.' "

The hole isn't always been kind. Even though it is a short par-5 where birdies are frequent, the bunkers and creek to the left of the split-level green can cause all sorts of problems.

Jack Nicklaus can attest. In the second round of the 1988 PGA Championship at Oak Tree, he put his tee shot into the water, then lost his approach in the trees en route to a 9. It was the first time in competition Nicklaus had lost two balls on the same hole.

This course is tough enough to stand on its own. It doesn't need a gimmick like the noose.

"Hopefully, it doesn't offend people," Tewell said.

We know first-hand that it does. In June, The Oklahoman photographed our All-City golfers of the year in front of the noose. We thought the noose an iconic, innocuous image of golf in this area.

But when the photo ran, we received angry calls, e-mails and letters.

One reader wrote: "In the background is a dead tree and, to my astonishment, a rope tied in a hangman's noose. I, as well as others, failed to see the connection between two golfers and the noose."

The photo even made its way to Jay Leno's desk. The Tonight Show's host included it on his headlines segment a month or so ago.

"This is a story about a golf tournament," Leno said as the picture appeared on the screen. "It's not the golf tournament I'm worried about, but ... "

The camera zoomed in on the noose.

" ... rather what went on earlier in the day."

The audience howled.

I don't want people laughing at Oklahoma or Oak Tree during the 2006 Senior PGA Championship because of that noose. They might not have when the PGA Championship came through in 1988, but the world is a different place than it was there. It is more tolerant. Sensitive. Inclusive.

So is golf.

"Golf is more inclusive than it's ever been in its history," Awtrey said. "You only need to look at the best players in the game right now. Vijay Singh. Tiger Woods. It's a positive statement for the game.

"There's more people of color participating in the game than ever before."

Golf's growing popularity means lots of folks will be watching the Senior PGA in 2006. They will watch great players on a course that has renovated, regained its previous glory and recaptured a place among America's great courses.

What they should see is Oak Tree's majesty, not a shameful reminder of America's past."

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What are your personal thoughts on this whole issue????